Empire Builder offers worst Amtrak on-time performance

The return of Amtrak trains to St. Paul's Union Depot in May marked what many hope is a resurgence of passenger rail in Minnesota. It rolled in about an hour late, though. That's what happens with four out of five trains that travel through Minnesota as the Empire Builder, which carries passengers from Chicago through the Twin Cities, the prairies and the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Northwest and back.

My one experience with the Empire Builder dates back to the late 1980s, when I waited for hours or so in the cold at the Midway station. When it finally arrived, the train looked as if it had been flash-frozen, and the icy toilets onboard were inoperable. Conditions have no doubt improved, and despite the delays, passengers boarding the Empire Builder in Minnesota hit a record in 2012.

It's lights, camera, action on Thursday for the Woody Harrelson movie "Wilson," on location at the state prison in Stillwater. But the Department of Corrections' ban on cameras means the film crew won't be allowed inside.